If there is a single kind of crime that puts a person’s irresponsibility on display, it has to be a hit-and-run. Every other kind of motor vehicle accident shows some level of irresponsibility, sure, but only in hit-and-runs do people actively choose to decline it.
The worst part is that hit-and-runs seem to be on the rise. And Georgia, in particular, has had such a problem with hit-and-runs that the American Automobile Association ranked it as the state with the fourth-highest number of fatal hit-and-run cases in 2016.
Hit-and-runs are also somewhat more difficult to file an insurance claim for since there’s a decent chance you’ll have to shoulder the costs yourself if you aren’t covered by the right policy.
Or, you could work with a hit-and-run lawyer who isn’t about to let that happen to you.
Do You Need a Fulton County Hit and Run Accident Attorney?
Legally speaking, you are not required to hire a lawyer to represent you after a hit-and-run. Practically speaking, however, it is usually advisable to get one.
Quantitative research suggests that working with a lawyer vastly increases the odds of making a successful claim with insurance companies, with 9 out of 10 claimants working with an attorney getting any form of compensation at all vs. about 5 out of 10 claimants working alone.
In addition to this, it was also found that a majority of claimants who opted for legal aid made, on average, up to four times the amount that those who worked on their own made. This held true even after deducting the lawyer’s fees.
Note that this does come with some caveats. For the most part, a hit-and-run lawyer will not be able to force an insurance company to give you more money than your policy limits, with the rare exception of your policy being unfair, in which case you can attempt a lawsuit.
But as insurance companies usually loathe giving out the maximum amount policies allow, there’s usually room for an attorney on your side to convince them to nudge the offer up.
Hit-and-Run Accidents in Georgia
Georgia requires that any driver involved in an accident that causes injury to another or damage to property stop at the scene of the accident or as close as reasonably possible to the accident in order to return. A hit-and-run occurs when a party involved in an accident leaves the scene.
These kinds of accidents can happen in many different ways. In general, however, hit-and-runs fall under one of three different situations:
- The driver collided with another vehicle in motion.
- The driver collided with a non-motorist, such as a pedestrian or cyclist.
- The driver collided with a parked vehicle or immobile structure.
A driver will have committed a hit-and-run in these scenarios if they:
- Did not stop at the scene of the accident.
- Stopped at the scene of the accident but failed to provide their operator’s license upon request.
- Stopped at the scene of the accident but failed to follow the duty of providing reasonable care and help to accident victims.
Hit-and-runs are illegal and carry with them either a felony charge or a misdemeanor charge, depending on the severity of injuries and/or damages the victim sustains.
What to Do After a Hit-and-Run Accident
The exact response you should have after a hit-and-run accident should vary with the context of the situation itself. That said, there are a few constants that should be observed after any accident, especially if it is a hit-and-run.
Ensure Your Safety
This is the first and most important step to take after a hit-and-run. All others that follow are of no use and no value if you are no longer alive to report the event, much less make use of any insurance claim you are eligible for.
This means if you were directly hit by the driver, whether as a motorist or non-motorist, your first instinct should be to assess your injuries. Immediately after that, you need to call for help.
Call 911 if you can. If this is not possible due to injury, a damaged phone, or any other reason, do your best to get the attention of nearby people.
If the hit-and-run occurred while you were away from your car and you returned to find it damaged, you are less likely to have to worry about your safety. However, you should still call 911 upon discovery of the damage, as this leads directly to the next step.
Contact the Authorities
More than almost any other kind of accident, hit-and-runs are extremely time-sensitive. While for most other cases, this is caused by evidence being more difficult to gather as time passes, hit-and-runs also have an at-fault driver that gets further from being caught with each minute.
Traffic cameras and CCTV footage may assist investigations, but the fact is that every moment that passes significantly lowers the odds of the perpetrator being brought to justice. This is doubly so at night when there is poor visibility and fewer witnesses.
To maximize your chances of recovery, you need to contact the authorities as soon as possible. If you followed step one, you should already be on the phone with 911 at this point, in which case, request police presence and, depending on the severity of the accident, emergency medical services and the fire department.
Document Evidence
If you are able, gather what evidence you can get at the scene. This means photos, video footage, and audio recordings.
If you have the reaction speed and clarity of mind in a pinch, try to get a snapshot of the license plates of the vehicle before they get too far away. Alternatively, commit the plates to memory and jot them down in your phone’s notes or on paper.
You will also want to get photos and descriptions of any injuries you and any other party sustained at the scene, as well as any physical damage to property that the accident caused.
Keep in mind that documenting evidence doesn’t stop at the scene of the accident. Some injuries may only become evident after a few weeks or months, and some treatments may take just as long.
To this end, it’s considered best practice to keep a journal of your injury and healing progress, as well as a book of all your expenditures (and lost potential income) throughout your recovery period.
Properly documented evidence reduces the odds of a lowballed offer by the insurance company and makes it much easier for you to build a case where you can maximize your claim.
Contact Your Insurance Provider
You will want to reach out to your insurance provider at your earliest convenience. Depending on the specifics of the accident, you will have to decide what insurance plan will cover your damages.
If the authorities successfully identify the hit-and-run driver, your insurance provider will reach out to theirs and begin the claims process. After some time, you will be given an offer that ideally covers your injuries and expenses related to the accident.
However, there are times when a hit-and-run driver is not found or, alternatively, made the decision not to stop as legally required because they do not have the insurance policy in place to cover the damages they caused. In these cases, you will have to turn to your own policies.
Most hit-and-run victims have the option of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and Uninsured Motorist (UM) policies in the event that the at-fault driver cannot cover expenses. However, these policies are not a legal requirement in Georgia, and so not everyone has them.
In any case, contacting your insurer gives you a chance to run through these options as quickly as possible. If it turns out that you cannot get compensation through these channels, you will need to look for other options before Georgia’s statute of limitations expires.
Reach Out to a Hit and Run Lawyer
Most people feel as if they have no options in the previously mentioned situations. Fortunately, long before even reaching the point of your insurance company turning you away, an experienced hit-and-run lawyer can reveal opportunities you might have been aware of.
Your lawyer may be able to mount their own investigation into the hit-and-run and attempt to identify the driver. Personal injury lawyers often work closely with law enforcement to build airtight cases for their clients and can often help find persons of interest in clients’ cases.
If it turns out that neither you nor the at-fault driver has coverage sufficient to account for all your damages, your lawyer can still offer legal routes to pursue compensation. They may help you file a claim through Georgia’s crime victims compensation program, for example.
Of course, a lawyer can prove useful even when the driver is found and insured.
Georgia is an at-fault state that follows modified contributory negligence rules. This means a person’s degree of fault is deducted as a percentage of their insurance claim’s total value.
As a result of this rule, some insurers may try to assign a greater degree of fault when they make an offer in order for them to pay out a lower amount. Hit-and-run lawyers can argue for a higher amount for their clients and support it with evidence.
Work With a Fulton County Hit and Run Accident Law Firm
If you’re in Fulton County and need legal services to help you recover from a hit-and-run, look to us at the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm. We are one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country, headquartered in the county seat of Atlanta, GA.
The CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm is led by Attorney Ali Awad, who, over the past seven years, has worked with personal injury clients to recover millions of dollars worth of damages, allowing them a fast-tracked return to recovery and normal life.
The CEO Lawyer serves clients in both English and Spanish. When Attorney Awad isn’t fighting battles in the courtroom or at the negotiating table, he fosters connections with the Fulton County community at organized events or on his social media platforms, where he offers free legal advice.
Contact us today at (470) 323-8779, and we can get started with your case. We offer free consultations with zero obligation to work with us, and we do not charge you until after we have won your case or settled your claim.
